How College Students Use Advanced Placement Credit

Numerous researchers (e.g., Academic Pathways to Access and Student Success, 2006, ACT, Inc., 2009; Bragg, Kim, & Barnett, , 2006; College Board, 2010; Hargrove, Godin, & Dodd, 2008; Keng & Dodd, 2008; Morgan & Klaric, 2007) have concluded that participating in challenging high school curriculums such as Advanced Placement (AP) courses and exams positively contribute to students' college readiness, college achievement, and career success. Specifically mentioned in the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB, 2002) was the AP program as a college prep course (U.S. Department of Education, 2004). Moreover, Section 1702 (Access to High Standards Act) of the No Child Left Behind Act acknowledged federal confirmation of AP coursework as college prep curriculum and encouraged states and school districts to incorporate these programs as a means of elevating academic standards (U.S. Department of Education, 2004). In his 2006 State of the Union Address, President George W. Bush thrust the AP program into mainstream education; accordingly, the national perception on AP program involvement increased (Klopfenstein & Thomas, 2009).In a policy brief for the Education Commission of the States (ECS), Dounay (2006) recommended an all-inclusive state policy on advanced placement. First, each state and school district should require a minimum number of AP courses to be offered. As a result, state policy would provide consistency in AP content and leverage AP curriculum offerings in low-income and high minority schools. Second, a state-wide AP framework would establish standards and opportunities for all students to gain access to college preparatory courses. As the result, the federal government, along with most states, and the College Board subsidizes AP exam fees for low-income students. In addition, most states (including Texas, New York, and Florida) provide additional incentives for students and teachers of students who achieve AP exam scores of 3 or higher (Holstead et al., 2010). In September 2006, U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings announced that 33 grants in the amount of $17 million were awarded to increase the participation of low-income students in AP courses and exams. In 2006, an additional $5,867,284 was awarded to 26 states to fund AP exam subsidies programs (U.S. Department of Education, 2006).In 2012, Arne Duncan, the current Secretary of Education, announced that federal support of AP program incentives and exam subsidies were reinstated (U. S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, 2012). Over $21.5 million was budgeted to subsidize AP exam fees. As the result of these financial awards, the federal government continued to acknowledge AP course and exam participation as curriculum of college readiness and success. Although funding for AP programs and exams was approved, researchers (e.g., Davis, Joyner, & Slate, 2011; Moore & Slate, 2008) have documented the persistent AP achievement and participation gaps among Black students in the United States. Specific to this study, few researchers (Davis, Joyner, & Slate, 2011; Koch; 2012) have investigated AP program involvement and performance of ethnically diverse, primarily lower socioeconomic, student groups across states.PURPOSE OF THE STUDYThe purpose of this study was to determine the cost effectiveness of covering AP exam fees by comparing the success value provided by overall AP exam outcomes to test expenditures for Black students in three researcher-selected states (i.e., Texas, New York, and Florida). According to the Centers for Disease Control (n.d.), cost-effectiveness analysis is commonly used in the health care industries to confirm if the intervention and the results desired validate the cost or investment. As it pertains to this research, cost-effectiveness analysis compares the costs of AP exam to the results or level of success on these exams. In addition, the cost effectiveness analysis evaluates the extent to which AP achievement can be regarded as providing value for the dollars spent (Davis, 2013). …

Advanced Placement (AP) is a program in the United States and Canada created by the College Board, a nonprofit organization that offers college-level curriculum and examinations to high school students. Increasing numbers of high school students across America take AP courses. Despite the increasing popularity of the AP curriculum, many Black, Hispanic, or low-income students are historically underrepresented in these courses. Students of color are more likely to not enroll in AP courses, not receive a passing score, or become disengaged and drop out, thereby missing out on the academic benefits that AP courses can provide. This qualitative research study sought to examine and understand whether culturally responsive pedagogy can increase engagement among students of color in high school AP courses. Using a two-cycle action plan, qualitative data were collected through interviews and observations to understand teacher attitudes, behaviors, challenges, and issues concerning engagement among students of color. An action research plan was developed and implemented to examine whether culturally responsive teaching activities can increase the engagement of students of color in the classroom. The study concludes that teachers who employ culturally responsive practices that incorporate family and cultural artifacts, socially relevant issues, counter-narrative storytelling, and creative self-expression can positively influence Black and Brown student engagement and performance in the classroom. This study demonstrates that the teacher is the controlling factor when it comes to engaging students of color in the classroom. When a teacher makes a durable, proactive commitment to employing culturally responsive curriculum, activities, and behaviors to connect with disengaged students of color, then trust, engagement, and learning occurs. --Author's abstract

When calculating class rank, high schools often give additional weight to grades earned in College Board Advanced Placement (AP) courses as an incentive for students to take hard courses. This paper examines changes in student course-taking behavior after an increase in AP grade weights at Texas high schools. We find that raising the magnitude of the AP grade weight in schools already using weights has a small impact that is limited to white students who are not eligible for free or reduced-price lunch (FRPL). When schools introduce grade weights for the first time, the impact is large and widespread with the probability of taking an AP course increasing by 3 to 12 percent and the number of AP courses taken increasing by 0.13 to 0.95 standard deviations. Impacts are largest among students who are not FRPL eligible.

This paper uses Advanced Placement (AP) exams to examine how receiving college credit in high school alters students’ subsequent human capital investment. Using data from one large state, I link high school students to postsecondary transcripts from in-state, public institutions. I estimate causal impacts using a regression discontinuity that compares students with essentially identical AP performance but who receive different offers of college credit. I find that female students who earn credit from science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) exams take higher level STEM courses, significantly increasing their depth of study, with no observed impacts for male students. As a result, the male–female gap in STEM courses taken shrinks by roughly one third to two thirds, depending on the outcome studied. Earning non-STEM AP credit increases overall coursework in non-STEM courses and increases the breadth of study across departments. Early credit policies help assist colleges to produce graduates whose skills aligns with commonly cited social or economic priorities, such as developing STEM graduates with stronger skills, particularly among traditionally underrepresented groups.

The Advanced Placement (AP) Program provides a framework for high school students to obtain college credit and/or placement for work done in high school. Toward this end, the College Board outlines course descriptions and organizes examinations in several dozen disciplines, including computer science. To meet its goals, each AP course must align with college courses, so students taking an AP course will master needed content Several approaches are used to monitor this connection between AP courses and college-level courses. This session will review these approaches, considering how the AP CS A course matches introductory college computer science courses.

У статті досліджено програми раннього вступу до університетів та коледжів для обдарованих старшокласників у США. Схарактеризовано спеціальні програми для обдаро-ваних старшокласників, які в своєму інтелектуальному, емоційному та особистісному розвитку на декілька років випереджають ровесників. Доведено, що всі програми раннього вступу до університетів у різних штатах базуються на стратегіях прискореного і збагаченого навчання; виокремлено організаційні відмінності такого навчання у різних штатах. Проаналізовано сутність таких програм раннього вступу, як Міжнародний Бакалаврат, академічні олімпіади й конкурси, літні школи, волонтерські програми, тощо. Авторами окреслено шляхи імплементації американського досвіду раннього вступу до закладів вищої освіти в Україні.

Opportunity gaps between minority and white students and between genders has thus far prevented the concept of an equitable school with equitable opportunities. One important measure of educational equity is participation in Advanced Placement (AP) classes. If both the overall availability of AP courses and achievement within AP courses are increasing while certain subgroups of students, specifically Latinx students, are still lagging far behind in terms of enrollment, more needs to be done to address possible reasons for the disparity. The purpose of this study is to examine innate and environmental protective factors possessed by Latina high school students at an urban high school in New England as they contribute to the resiliency that allows them to stay in a track where they can eventually enroll in Advanced Placement (AP) mathematics courses. Using Resiliency Theory, this narrative study sought to answer the following central research question by interviewing high school Latinx students who have persisted and succeeded in an AP mathematics course: What are the innate traits and lived experiences of Latina students who have successfully completed an AP level mathematics course that have helped them to develop resilience? Findings from this study identified several innate protective factors, including math confidence and knowledge of the Advanced Placement system and several environmental protective factors, including having supportive family members, at least one supportive teacher, a cohort of with whom students to travel from class to class, and being singled out for a specific academic trait, that contributed to their enrollment in in Advanced Placement (AP) mathematics courses. Implications for practice and future research are discussed.--Author's abstract

Increasing the number of students choosing a STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) career is a national educational priority. One way thought to increase interest in STEM is with advanced STEM courses in high school, especially Advanced Placement (AP) courses. Using data from 15,847 college undergraduates, we investigated the relationship between participation in AP mathematics courses (AP Calculus and AP Statistics) and student career interest in STEM. After controlling for covariates, the strongest effect ( d = 0.13) showed that students who took AP Calculus had a modestly higher career interest in engineering and mathematics/computer science. However, the relationship between most AP mathematics courses and most STEM career outcomes was negligible. Most differences in outcomes between AP and non-AP students are likely due to preexisting differences between the two groups.

A fundamental right of American children is to have equal opportunities to obtain a quality education regardless of race, class, or economic status. College graduates are less likely to live in poverty and more likely to have greater earning potential. High school students enrolling in rigorous coursework, like Advanced Placement classes, are better prepared for college. Using the instruments of the Ohio Teacher Efficacy Survey and the Rand Measure, this study found that having a rigorous curriculum and avoiding deficit thinking matters in recommending African-American students' to Advanced Placement classes. Race and ethnicity should not be used as a limitation. Educators must recognize the diversity that each student contributes to the classroom. Additionally, this research revealed that what high school teachers believe about their students' capabilities does influence the success of the students. Teachers who teach Advanced Placement courses have to believe all students can learn, regardless of condition, status, race or economic opportunities.

To PREFACE MY REMARKS on the manageability of an advanced placement course in world history, I need to explain part of the process which led us here today. To test the interest and feasibility of pursuing the idea of this course, the Educational Testing Service sent out a questionnaire in April 1995 to 400 secondary schools that taught Advanced Placement courses at that time. They received 190 responses to the questionnaire. The following is just a portion of the survey questions and results, with comments about the related situation in Texas.

In this study, 184 Latina/o students provided their perceptions of support from high school counselors and their levels of acculturation, Mexican orientation, and Anglo orientation. Perceptions of expectations, perceptions of appraisal, and Mexican orientation were significant predictors of enrollment in Advanced Placement (AP) courses. The authors did not find gender differences between males and females across perceptions of support and acculturation. This article discusses the importance of these findings and offers implications for school counselors.

Low enrollment of Latino, African American, Native American, and Southeast Asian American students in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) classes, via advanced placement (AP) courses, remains a problem for high schools, and education leaders across the United States. More than just examining the factors behind this enrollment issue, we wanted to understand the focal factors underpinning success in AP courses of those few who do enroll. For that purpose, we grounded this case study on social cognitive theory’s central variable of self-efficacy. We found that teacher facilitated experience plays a pivotal function in students’ success in STEM education, more specifically, AP math.

This study explored the impact of Advanced Placement and honors course enrollment and high school grade point average (GPA) on first-semester college GPA. Data were collected from 131 college freshmen enrolled at a minority-serving institution who graduated from a public school during the previous academic year. A four-step hierarchical multiple regression analysis indicated that family structure, college status, enrollment in one or more Advanced Placement courses, and enrollment in five or more honors courses accounted for a significant amount of variance explained in first-semester college GPA, both individually and in combination. High school GPA intervened in these variables relationships with first-semester college GPA accounting for a significant amount of variance. Based on these findings, opportunities for future research and implications for K–12 schools and colleges are provided.

CSAwesome is a new approved curriculum and professional development (PD) provider for the Advanced Placement (AP) Computer Science (CS) A high school course. AP courses are taken by secondary (typically ages 14-19) students for college placement and/or credit. CSAwesome's free curriculum and teacher resources were developed in 2019 by adapting the CSA Java Review ebook on the open-source Runestone platform. The goals of CSAwesome are to broaden participation in the AP CSA course and to support new-to-CS students and teachers as they transition from the AP Computer Science Principles (CSP) course to the AP CSA course by using inclusive teaching practices and curriculum design. The AP CSP course is equivalent to a first course for non-majors at the college level, while the AP CSA course is equivalent to a first course for majors. Currently, AP CSA attracts a much less diverse student body than AP CSP. This new curriculum supports student engagement and scaffolded learning through an interactive ebook with embedded executable and modifiable code (Active Code), a variety of practice types with immediate feedback, and adaptable mixed-up code (Parsons) problems. Collaborative learning is encouraged through pair programming and groupwork. Our pilot Professional Development (PD) incorporates inclusive teaching strategies and active recruitment with the goal of broadening participation in CSA. This paper presents the design of the CSAwesome curriculum and teacher professional development and initial results from the curriculum use and pilot PD during the first year of CSAwesome.

This study involved identifying, categorizing, and comparing critical incidents related to qualifying dual credit high school students’ decisions to enroll or not to enroll in dual credit coursework in either a traditional or early college high school. The purpose of the study was (a) to identify the reasons qualifying students decide to enroll in dual credit courses in a traditional or early college high school and (b) to identify the reasons qualifying students choose the traditional versus the early college high school. For this qualitative study, the research method employed was the Critical Incident Technique (CIT) developed by John Flanagan in 1954. The study employed a written survey to obtain demographic information and the critical incident data. The study was conducted by appointed high school counselors at both high schools—traditional and early college. Both schools were located within the same school district. Total participants in the study totaled 139. The researcher, along with the help of a dual credit expert panel, identified, categorized, counted, and reported a total of 643 incidents: 340 effective and 303 ineffective critical incidents. For both enrolled traditional and early college high school students, “Incentives and Challenges” was the most frequent reason students cited for enrolling in dual credit. Both types of students also indicated “Culture/Atmosphere” as the top reason they chose to attend one school versus the other. Not enrolled traditional high school students cited the “Advanced Placement Course” category as the top reason they chose not to enroll in dual credit. These students also cited “Culture/Atmosphere” as the main reason they chose the traditional versus the early college high school. Not enrolled early college high school students cited “Personal Hindrances” as the key reason for not enrolling in dual credit. This same category was also cited as the top reason that early college students gave for choosing the early college versus the traditional high school. Keywords: dual credit, high school students, early college high school, critical incidents